Instagram inbox
Connect your Instagram account to the inbox, import existing conversations, reply to messages within the 24-hour window, and link senders to client profiles.
With Instagram connected, direct messages sent to your Instagram account arrive in the Zanfia inbox next to your other client conversations, and your replies go out from your own account.
Open the Instagram tab
In the sidebar open Customers → Inbox and click the Instagram pill
(/communication/instagram). Unlike Direct messages, this tab has no Message all or New
message button: on Instagram a conversation always starts with a message from the other person.
Connect the account
If no account is connected, the tab shows Connect Instagram; click it and approve the access on Instagram's side. If your account is already connected for publishing posts only, the tab shows Enable Instagram messages instead: click Enable messages and approve once more, this time including messages. Afterwards the left column is headed by your handle, starting with @.
Import existing conversations
Click the refresh icon next to your handle (its tooltip reads Import existing conversations from Instagram). You see "Import started - conversations will appear here as they come in."; the import runs in the background and ends with "Imported N conversations (N new messages)." One row appears per person, named by their handle. If an import fails, the icon turns red and a click tries again.
Read a conversation
Click a row. The other person's messages are on the left and yours on the right; the header shows their name with "Instagram" underneath. A message that carries only a picture or a story reaction shows as "[Attachment]". New messages arrive live, move the conversation to the top and mark it with a colored dot until you open it.
Reply within the window
A green tag such as "21h to reply" shows how long you can still answer. Type in Reply on Instagram… (up to 1,000 characters) and click Send; the reply appears in the thread and in the Instagram app, and the row's preview starts with "You: ". Replies you send from the Instagram app itself also show up here, marked "sent from Instagram".
Link the sender to a client
In the conversation header click Link to client, search in Link to a client and pick the person. After "Linked to client." the button becomes a Client profile link, and the conversation is listed on that client's profile under Linked channels with Open conversation.
The 24-hour reply window
| State in the header | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Green tag, for example "21h to reply" | Write and send replies |
| Orange tag Reply window closed | Nothing can be sent. The reply field is replaced by: "Instagram allows replies for 24 hours after the last customer message. The window reopens when they write again." |
The window is a rule of Instagram, not of Zanfia: it restarts each time the other person writes to you.
Good to know
The Instagram connection is the same one used for publishing, managed in Settings under integrations, see Connect social media accounts. The list shows the 100 most recently active conversations. Opening a conversation clears its unread dot for your whole team.
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